Soon enough, there's going to be an answer to the question of how to stay young, as scientists have claimed that the aging process can be possibly reversed.
A group of researchers from La Jolla, California stated on Thursday that it is possible to slow down ageing or even reverse it using a new form of gene therapy they have used in mice. In the study, the gene therapy made the animals look younger with younger looking skin and improved muscle tone as well as an extended life span by 30 percent.
"Our study shows that aging may not have to proceed in one single direction," said Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor who led the team at the Salk Institute's Gene Expression Laboratory. "It has plasticity and, with careful modulation, aging might be reversed."
Belmonte also added that this study can be useful so that a new approach can be used in health care because aging itself will be treated instead of addressing the medical conditions associated with aging. He also pointed out that there are limits to the study such that they are not looking to an extent where it can lead to immortality but rather use it for health-span.
It is important to note though, according to the researchers, that while the therapy produced these results to mice, it might take a while or even a decade before they do clinical trials of the study to humans. They explained that mice are animals and it would take a more complicated process to make a person younger.
The approach used in mice could also not be directly applied to human because the process requires genetic manipulation of the embryos, the researchers said. But they also believe that these chemical approaches can be performed with human in the next ten years.
